If you’re paying year-round for subscriptions to Peacock, HBO Max, Disney+, or Hulu, you’re probably wasting money.
While each of these services has raised prices this year, you can get them at a discount as part of various food delivery, grocery, and credit card services. The total cost will be less that what you’d pay for each service alone; plus, you’ll get some extra perks on the side.
Here’s how to take advantage.
Walmart’s alternative to Amazon Prime costs $96 per year and includes your choice of either Peacock or Paramount+ (both with ads). Peacock alone costs $110 per year now, so you’ll save $14 annually by getting it through Walmart+, whose other perks include free shipping, prescription deliveries, and discounts on gas.
The savings are greater for AARP members, who get $40 off Walmart+ with the same streaming benefits. Walmart also offers half-price memberships to folks who quality for various government assistance programs.
(Getting Paramount+ through Walmart+ isn’t as a great of a deal, since that service only has a value of $60 per year, but you can switch between the two services once every three months.)
What about ad-free? Unfortunately you can’t upgrade to Peacock’s ad-free plan via Walmart+.
If you’re more interested in grocery delivery than free Walmart shipping, opt for Instacart+ instead. It includes Peacock’s ad-supported plan at no extra cost, and at $99 per year, it’s $11 cheaper than a Peacock subscription by itself.
Instacart+ reduces fees on deliveries from grocery stores and restaurants, with the company claiming that it pays for itself after approximately two monthly orders. Either way, you’d come out ahead compared to the standalone cost of Peacock.
What about ad-free? Unfortunately you can’t upgrade to Peacock’s ad-free plan with Instacart+.
With an annual DashPass subscription, you can get HBO Max’s ad-supported plan at no extra cost. DashPass costs $96 per year, which is $14 less than HBO Max’s annual ad-supported plan after its latest price hikes. (Month-to-month DashPass subscriptions do not include HBO Max.)
DashPass is DoorDash’s subscription service that reduces fees on food deliveries and offers some extra perks, such as restaurant deals and discounts on Lyft rides. Even if you never use those benefits, you’ll come out ahead compared to a standalone HBO Max subscription.
What about ad-free? Upgrading to HBO Max’s ad-free plan with DashPass costs $11 per month, which works out to $228 per year. Given that HBO Max charges $185 per year for its Standard plan without ads, the DoorDash route isn’t worthwhile unless you were going to pay for DashPass either way.
The grocery megachain has its own delivery service with streaming included. With a Kroger Boost annual membership at $99 per year, you get a choice of ad-supported Disney+, Hulu, or ESPN Select (formerly ESPN+) at no extra cost. Disney+ and Hulu each cost $12 per month on their own, while ESPN Select costs $13 per month, so you’d save either $45 or $57 per year compared to each service’s standalone cost.
Note that Kroger owns a bunch of other grocery store chains with their own branded Boost memberships, including Fred Meyer, QFC, Ralph’s, Smith’s, and the fantastically-named King Soopers. Sign up with whichever Kroger-owned store offers Boost near you.
What about ad-free? Unfortunately you can’t upgrade to ad-free Disney+ or Hulu.
The American Express Blue Cash Everyday card offers an easy way to defray the cost of Disney+, Hulu, or ESPN. The card has no annual fee, and Cardholders get $84 in statement credit per year (or $7 per month) toward any Disney-owned streaming service.
You might also consider Amex’s Blue Cash Preferred card, which bumps the Disney credit to $120 per year (or $10 per month) but has a $95 annual fee after the first year. This would be worthwhile if you spend a lot on groceries, as the card’s main benefit is six percent cash back on up to $6,000 in annual grocery spending.
Either way, the credit can apply to either ad-supported or ad-free plans, and it’s valid for individual services or Disney’s various bundles. It’ll even stack with other discounts, such as Hulu’s Black Friday offer from last year.
The only catch is that you must subscribe directly through the Disney+, Hulu, or ESPN websites. The credit won’t apply if you use Apple’s or Google’s in-app billing systems, for instance, or if you’re billed through HBO Max for a bundle that includes Disney+ and Hulu.
Also, once you’ve activated the card, you must enroll in the Disney streaming credit separately. On the American Express site, just head to Rewards & Benefits, select the “Benefits” tab, then click the Disney offer to enroll.
While the above offers make more sense than paying full price for any individual service year-round, you might still want to avoid them for several reasons:
Annual commitments and ads: With the exception of Amex’s statement credit for Disney services, the above offers require an annual subscription, and most don’t allow for ad-free streaming. If you don’t mind cycling through streaming services one month at a time, you’ll come out far ahead of any annual plan.
Other deals: Seasonal sales and come-back offers might be cheaper than any of the above offers. During Black Friday last year, for instance, Hulu offered 12 months of service for just $1 per month, while Peacock offered a full year for $20. (We don’t yet know what discounts will be available on Black Friday this year, though.)
Better bundles: Instead of getting free streaming through a grocery or delivery service, you might be better off bundling streaming services together directly for a discount. A quick refresher:
You can also get Hulu (with ads) for free with some T-Mobile plans, while Verizon offers a $10-per-month bundle of Netflix and HBO Max (both with ads).
Unlike the offers I outlined earlier, these bundles cost more than any one service by itself, but they’re worth considering if you intend to pay for those services year round. As long as you’re not paying full price for each individual service, you’re doing it right.
Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more money-saving advice.
Author: Jared Newman
Source: PCWorld
Reviewed By: Editorial Team
